CMS plans all-out attack on poor-quality care.2005 will see the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS (1) See content management system and color management system. (2) (Conversational Monitor System) Software that provides interactive communications for IBM's VM operating system. ) moving to address nursing home quality on a broad front. The initiatives were announced in a recently published CMS action plan. For example, hard on the heels of new Quality Measures introduced in November focusing on weight loss and pressure ulcers Pressure ulcer Also known as a decubitus ulcer, pressure ulcers are open wounds that form whenever prolonged pressure is applied to skin covering bony outcrops of the body. Patients who are bedridden are at risk of developing pressure ulcers. , CMS says it is developing a staffing QM for introduction this year. CMS will also be working to significantly upgrade the staffing information nursing homes already submit to the Nursing Home Compare Web site. Other planned initiatives include: * improving and intensifying state survey agencies' investigation of resident/family complaints * aiding state survey agencies to better identify and correct nursing homes' "past noncompliance noncompliance failure of the owner to follow instructions, particularly in administering medication as prescribed; a cause of a less than expected response to treatment. noncompliance " situations * sponsoring a national conference on the issues of employee background checks and prevention of resident abuse and neglect * building on Quality Improvement Organizations' early successes in nursing home quality improvement, including a three-year contract with QIOs, starting in August, focusing on statewide improvements in pressure ulcers, physical restraints Physical restraint refers to the practice of rendering people helpless or keeping them in captivity by means such as handcuffs, shackles, straitjackets, ropes, straps, or other forms of physical restraint. , pain management, and depression, as well as identifying and working with nursing homes in particular need of assistance * requiring smoke detectors smoke detector n. An alarm device that automatically detects the presence of smoke. Also called smoke alarm. in nursing homes that don't have sprinkler systems According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. CMS, within the state survey category alone, more than 18 performance improvement initiatives will be undertaken this year. --Richard L. Peck, Editor-in-Chief |
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